This invention relates to an apparatus for estimating an amount of ink to be consumed in printing.
Inks used for general printing materials such as magazines, catalogues and posters are in most cases yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (BK) and the like. Since these inks are used in large quantities for general printing, they can be used, if left over, for other printing and thus are never wasted.
To print special printing materials such as wallpaper, wrapping paper and printed panels, inks of special colors are used in most cases. They are prepared for specific purposes by mixing two or more inks of primary colors in a proper ratio. Such inks cannot be used for other printing. If left over, they are inevitably wasted. If the necessary amount of such a special ink is correctly estimated before printing thereby to reduce the amount of excessive ink it would be quite economical.
Hitherto, a necessary amount of ink has been predicted by a skilled printer. Or, in gravure printing, a necessary amount of ink has been estimated by measuring the total amount of ink cells from the shavings of the printing plate. The first-mentioned method solely depends on the printer's hunch, and the estimated amount often turns out to be so incorrect that much ink is wanting or left over. If the estimated amount is found insufficient, the ink has to be prepared again. It is, however, extremely difficult to prepare an ink of the identical color. The second-mentioned method is time-consuming and nontheless fails to estimate the necessary amount of ink very correctly. Further, this method cannot be applied to other types of printing than gravure printing.
An object of this invention is to provide an apparatus which can estimate a necessary amount of ink accurately and easily.